Glacial Landscapes in the UKTopic Summary
Knowledge Organiser: Glacial Landforms
This topic summary covers Knowledge Organiser: Glacial Landforms within Glacial Landforms for GCSE Geography. Revise Glacial Landforms in Glacial Landscapes in the UK for GCSE Geography with 17 exam-style questions and 20 flashcards. This topic appears regularly enough that it should still be part of a steady revision cycle. It is section 16 of 16 in this topic. Use this topic summary to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Topic position
Section 16 of 16
Practice
17 questions
Recall
20 flashcards
Knowledge Organiser: Glacial Landforms
Erosional Landforms (Upland)
- Corrie: Armchair hollow — rotational flow + plucking + abrasion → tarn
- Arête: Knife-edge ridge — two corries eroding on opposite sides
- Pyramidal peak: Pointed summit — 3+ corries eroding inward (Snowdon, 1,085 m)
- U-shaped valley: Flat floor + steep sides — glacier transforms V to U (Nant Ffrancon)
- Hanging valley: Tributary valley left above main trough — waterfall at junction
- Truncated spur: Cliff face where glacier cut off interlocking spur
- Ribbon lake: Long lake in over-deepened trough (Windermere, 17 km)
- Misfit stream: Tiny river in oversized valley — evidence of glacial erosion
Depositional Landforms (Upland and Lowland)
- Drumlin: Oval till hill — stoss = blunt (faces source); lee = tapered (faces travel) (Eden Valley)
- Erratic: Rock from distant source deposited on different bedrock (Norber, Yorkshire)
- Terminal moraine: Ridge of till at maximum glacier extent
- Ground moraine: Sheet of till on valley floor — low-relief landscape
- Outwash plain: Sorted, stratified sediment from meltwater rivers — coarse near glacier, fine at distance
- Kettle hole: Depression from buried dead ice melting
- Esker: Sinuous ridge of sorted gravel — former subglacial river
Named UK Examples
- Red Tarn: Corrie tarn, Helvellyn, Lake District (718 m)
- Glaslyn: Corrie tarn / cwm lake, Snowdon, Snowdonia
- Striding Edge: Arête, Helvellyn, Lake District
- Snowdon (Y Wyddfa): Pyramidal peak, 1,085 m, Snowdonia
- Nant Ffrancon: U-shaped valley, Snowdonia
- Pistyll Rhaeadr: Hanging valley waterfall, 73 m, Wales
- Windermere: Ribbon lake, 17 km, Lake District
- Eden Valley: Drumlin swarm, Cumbria (NNW–SSE alignment)
- Norber Erratics: Silurian greywacke on Carboniferous limestone, Yorkshire Dales
- Matterhorn: Pyramidal peak, 4,478 m, Swiss Alps (international)
Must-Know Facts and Distinctions
- Corries form by rotational flow — not just sliding downhill
- Arête = 2 corries; pyramidal peak = 3+ corries
- Glacier = U-shaped valley; river = V-shaped valley. Never confuse.
- Drumlin stoss (blunt) = faces ice SOURCE; lee (pointed) = faces ice TRAVEL direction
- Till = unsorted, unstratified (glacier deposit)
- Outwash = sorted, stratified (meltwater river deposit)
- Windermere = longest lake in England = 17 km long, up to 67 m deep
- Norber Erratics = Silurian rock on Carboniferous limestone, ~2.5 km transported
- Positive feedback in corrie: deeper floor → faster rotation → more abrasion → deeper floor
- CATCH A DRUM: Corrie, Arête, Truncated spur, Corrie lake/tarn, Hanging valley | sAndar/outwash, Drumlin, Ribbon lake, U-valley, Moraines/pyramidal peak
Common Mistakes
- Confusing U-shaped valleys with V-shaped valleys: U-shaped valleys are formed by glacial erosion (flat floor, steep sides, truncated spurs); V-shaped valleys are formed by river erosion (narrow floor, sloping sides, interlocking spurs) — always identify the agent of erosion
- Getting drumlin orientation wrong: The blunt stoss end faces the direction the ice came FROM; the tapered lee end points in the direction the ice was travelling TO — always state both ends and their orientation relative to ice movement
- Saying corries form only by abrasion: Corrie formation requires rotational slip (ice rotates as it moves downslope), plucking (on the back wall) AND abrasion (on the floor) — a full formation answer needs all three processes
- Not naming UK locations: Always locate landforms — Red Tarn / Striding Edge (Helvellyn) for corrie and arête; Nant Ffrancon for U-shaped valley; Windermere (17 km) for ribbon lake; Eden Valley for drumlins